SBOL_Jeanne

By Carol Masshardt The Calnan name is synonymous with jewelry in South Boston, and in recent months Joe Calnan’s nephew, Carson, has opened at 705 E. Broadway. His emphasis on expert repair and using the newest technology for custom design reflects the changes in the possibilities of jewelry and his own impressive talents. He also holds the imagine of an uncle connected to the community and the people he served. Carson Calnan Pitts grew up near Albany, NY, but he seems double rooted in South Boston, where his extended family lives. In fact, his middle name was intended as legacy for his mother’s family. “I used to see my Uncle Joe work at the North Bennett St. School, where jewelry making was taught, and it [...]

By Carol Masshardt It is rare for a community to have an auto mechanic that seems to be universally trusted, and one in love what he has been doing since the early 1970’s. South Boston can count itself among the lucky with Fran Dempsey of Fran’s Auto Body on 43 Preble St. “I’m a Southie guy,” said Fran as if this phrase alone told the story of his growing up on L. St., working at “Billy Higgins Exon” and Emerson Auto before opening his own place in 1993. “It’s pretty simple,” he said. “This is my town and I love what I have been doing, and all my customers. I do the right thing and word gets around.” Now at sixty-eight, a father of four [...]